Federal authorities won’t say what will happen to the illegal immigrant women who aided the investigation into Soripada Lubis, but under federal law, they could receive a special visa allowing them to live in the United States legally.
First signed in 2000, the the Trafficking Victims Protection Act allows victims of human trafficking who help federal authorities prosecute the perpetrators to obtain a T visa.
The visa allows the victims to live in the United States for three years and provides a path to citizenship. Each year, the government makes 5,000 available, although only a few more than 1,000 have been granted.
To qualify for the visas, the victims must meet four requirements:
1) Be a victim of a severe form of trafficking.
2) Be physically present on account of the trafficking.
3) Cooperate with law enforcement and comply with any reasonable requests.
4) Establish that they would be under extensive hardship if returned to their country.
But, Daria Fisher Page, a staff attorney at Tahirih Justice Center, a Falls Church group that fights for trafficked victims’ rights, said “trafficking” doesn’t necessarily mean victims were physically moved across a border by their captor. The victim just has to be in the United States because they were recently released from a trafficking situation.
That may apply to the women identified as informants in the Lubis investigation, she said.
If it’s ruled they were trafficked as a result of Lubis’ threats against them, as some experts said is possible, then the women, who arrived in the United States legally, would have overstayed their welcome as a result of trafficking.
And if that’s the case, they may be able to make the United States their permanent home by obtaining T visas.
